A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I was
happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a brand of
stain that I've used for a number of years.

Yesterday -- some 10 days after staining, and after intervening rains
(which had pooled on top and then dried off with no adverse effects) --
- some light light splotches, of random pattern appeared. It was like
somebody had splashed a fair amount of light bleach here and there,
which had then dried off.

I'm going to have to refinish and stain the deck (again....), but I'd
like to nail down where this splotchy-bleach effect might have come
from so that I can avoid it next time.

The only thing out of the ordinary that's been going on when this
happened is that my neighbour has a roofing company in, who are putting
a flat roof (well, very shallow pitch) over his rear kitchen extension.
They've boarded it out; put on the felt; and are out there this
morning, presumably finishing it off. (I can hear blow-torches.)

Is there some chemical compound used when putting felt down on flat-
roof boards that could find its way from one garden to another, and be
caustic enough to created splotchy, lightly-bleach areas on stained
wood?

--
Cheers,
Harvey

Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I was
happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a brand of
stain that I've used for a number of years.

snip
The only thing out of the ordinary that's been going on when this
happened is that my neighbour has a roofing company in, who are putting
a flat roof (well, very shallow pitch) over his rear kitchen extension.
They've boarded it out; put on the felt; and are out there this
morning, presumably finishing it off. (I can hear blow-torches.)

Is there some chemical compound used when putting felt down on flat-
roof boards that could find its way from one garden to another, and be
caustic enough to created splotchy, lightly-bleach areas on stained
wood?

Not really.
Just tar AIUI.
Blowtorches will be melting it on to seal things probably.

In article , "Harvey Van
Sickle" says...
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I was
happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a brand of
stain that I've used for a number of years.

Yesterday -- some 10 days after staining, and after intervening rains
(which had pooled on top and then dried off with no adverse effects) --
- some light light splotches, of random pattern appeared. It was like
somebody had splashed a fair amount of light bleach here and there,
which had then dried off.

Sounds to me as if you've spilt something on the decking which has
stopped the stain from soaking in to the timber, and it's washed away
from those areas.

On 08 Jun 2005, Rob Morley wrote

In article , "Harvey Van
Sickle" says...
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I
was happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a
brand of stain that I've used for a number of years.

Yesterday -- some 10 days after staining, and after intervening
rains (which had pooled on top and then dried off with no adverse
effects) -- - some light light splotches, of random pattern
appeared. It was like somebody had splashed a fair amount of
light bleach here and there, which had then dried off.

Sounds to me as if you've spilt something on the decking which has
stopped the stain from soaking in to the timber, and it's washed
away from those areas.

Thanks; could be --- I'll explore that side of things when I re-do it.

--
Cheers,
Harvey

On 08 Jun 2005, Ian Stirling wrote

Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I
was happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a
brand of stain that I've used for a number of years.

snip
The only thing out of the ordinary that's been going on when this
happened is that my neighbour has a roofing company in, who are
putting a flat roof (well, very shallow pitch) over his rear
kitchen extension. They've boarded it out; put on the felt;
and are out there this morning, presumably finishing it off. (I
can hear blow-torches.)

Is there some chemical compound used when putting felt down on
flat- roof boards that could find its way from one garden to
another, and be caustic enough to created splotchy,
lightly-bleach areas on stained wood?

Not really.
Just tar AIUI.

Thanks; I figured it probably wasn't that, but it's the only unusual
thing that's happened since I did the staining.

I'll have to explore it a bit closer when I re-do the
cleaning/staining. (Sigh.)

--
Cheers,
Harvey

"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote in message
...
On 08 Jun 2005, Ian Stirling wrote

Harvey Van Sickle wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned down and re-stained the deck; I
was happy with the job: it was a pretty even finish, using a
brand of stain that I've used for a number of years.

snip
The only thing out of the ordinary that's been going on when this
happened is that my neighbour has a roofing company in, who are
putting a flat roof (well, very shallow pitch) over his rear
kitchen extension. They've boarded it out; put on the felt;
and are out there this morning, presumably finishing it off. (I
can hear blow-torches.)

Is there some chemical compound used when putting felt down on
flat- roof boards that could find its way from one garden to
another, and be caustic enough to created splotchy,
lightly-bleach areas on stained wood?

Not really.
Just tar AIUI.

Thanks; I figured it probably wasn't that, but it's the only unusual
thing that's happened since I did the staining.

I'll have to explore it a bit closer when I re-do the
cleaning/staining. (Sigh.)

Mates got a similar problem with his decking due to spilt/splashed fat/food
etc from having BBQ on decking. When new took stain nice and even, but a
couple of years later when he went to restain, stain didn't take to
areas/patches where fat and food had been dropped. In fact doesn't look very
good, but not a lot he can do about it.

On 08 Jun 2005, Ian_m wrote
"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote in message
...
On 08 Jun 2005, Ian Stirling wrote
Harvey Van Sickle wrote:

snip

Is there some chemical compound used when putting felt down on
flat- roof boards that could find its way from one garden to
another, and be caustic enough to created splotchy,
lightly-bleach areas on stained wood?

Not really.
Just tar AIUI.

Thanks; I figured it probably wasn't that, but it's the only
unusual thing that's happened since I did the staining. I'll have to
explore it a bit closer when I re-do the
cleaning/staining. (Sigh.)

Mates got a similar problem with his decking due to spilt/splashed
fat/food etc from having BBQ on decking. When new took stain nice
and even, but a couple of years later when he went to restain,
stain didn't take to areas/patches where fat and food had been
dropped. In fact doesn't look very good, but not a lot he can do
about it.

I think my problem is slightly different -- there's no source of fatty
deposits, and I did the same sort of treatment I've done each year or
two since I built the deck 6 or 7 years ago. (I clean it down with a
pressure-washer a week or two before staining, let it dry out, and then
put two coats of stain on it, so there's no residual crud/dirt
areas...apart from the dozen or so spots of bird**** which appear
during the drying-out time.)

One odd thing is that underneath a small table, one of the pied patches
is covered with a light dust-like powder -- like fine, dry mortar which
has neither got wet nor blown away. (Looking at the way the new roof
is constructed, I'd not be surprised at all to find that they've had to
patch some of the brickwork and/or do some fillets.)

I wonder if that could have done it -- that the mortar dust interacted
with the relatively-fresh stain, and then blew away from the more
exposed spots?

(Dunno....but just in case, I think I'll wait until next door is
finished and the roofers have gone before I re-do the deck.)

--
Cheers,
Harvey